thinkpiece

I stumbled upon a link on the internet
to a website with words
a website that covered topics
Eventually, one piece on a particular topic interested me

The piece was about the topic that interested me
A topic that I perceived 'every one' was talking about
I began to read it, understanding that it would sculpt my personal opinion on the topic
The thinkpiece would help me to feel more culturally enriched
as if my time on the internet was not only spent consuming low-end memes
but instead really thinking about cultural topics

As I continued, I realized that my brain began to think
It was thinking more than usual
More than I had thought in a while.

It was as if this seemingly inane cultural touchpoint
Was finally being contextualized in a way that interested me
In a way that made it seem as important as I thought it was
Sometimes I think about topics, but no one is there to assemble my thoughts

About 4 sentences in,
I realized that I was reading pure drivel
Garbage
Feces

I slowly began to realize
just how trivial the topic actually was
In a way that severely depressed me
In fact, I began to wonder why I even wasted time thinking about it

I do not care about the historical context of some band.
I do not care about the social/racial/geopolitical relevance of a television show.
I do not care about how the latest internet trend represents some trait about the evolution of our society due to technology/social media.

The thinkpiece made me realize
that I do not actually 'participate' in culture.
I am just a sad consumer, filling the hours of the day

If anything, I began to feel depressed for the writer of the thinkpiece
His/her sense of self-importance
Their desperation to mindpoop out their opinion with 'cultural authority'
Their tone of 'having seen it all' despite being born in 19__.

Did this really matter that much?
Did this topic really need to be 'figured out'?
Did they really 'solve' anything?
Was anything even there to 'deconstruct'?

By immersing myself in 'culture' via the thinkpiece era
Was I really living a fulfilling existence?
Did I really need to think that much?
Or should I find fulfillment in mindless, pure enjoyment?

The thinkpiece made me dumber.
The thinkpiece disconnected me from the art.
The thinkpiece made me dumber.
The thinkpiece felt like a word shart.

So many people are going out of their way to praise today's trend. Every one is so fascinated, from Middle Americans to tweens to even the high-level internet. I say, "Why?" Perhaps this trend has become out of control, clouding the way we usually think. Today's trend has run wild, and even the persons who I once thought were self-aware have malformed opinions concerning today's trend.

In a way, many of their points are valid, but at the same time, they are all so wrong. If anything, as a people, we must backlash against this popular trend in order to protect the sanctity of tomorrow. However, the backlash must be real.

I wrote this piece in order to make us think.

It appears as though as a society, we have reached a point where trends are everything, especially today's trend. I think that we should step back and ask ourselves what we are really consuming, because our inherent consumer culture of Amazon.com 1-click shopping has brought us to a point where instant satisfaction is necessary at all times. Mixed with a smorgasbord of social media culture, it is clear that our society overreacts to 'now.'

I ask, "What about the past?"
I ask, "What about the future?"
I scream, "Why is NOW so important?"

Today's trend has just reached a point where people are not even consuming it for the right reasons. Art. Progressiveness. Cultural innovation. Today's trend is hollow, evil, and must be seen thru. If we as a people don't stop today's trend, it is clear that things will not go well for us.

In a way, the way that today's trend leveraged social media to exploit the feeling of fear-of-missing-out was exploitative, creating a vacuous space of cultural emptiness. Sharing, liking, retweeting might be the only way that today's trend even resonates with every one.

When I was a child, there only used to be tv, print, and magazines. That is not the case now.

Take a step back and really think about the impact of today's trend on tomorrow. Maybe that's the sad thing about all of the success of today's trend. It's not good for the future generations, and I believe that if I am at the helm of cultural criticism, I will make that future a better place.

When tomorrow's trend comes along, we will all feel silly about today's trend. Don't say I didn't warn you.

It is impossible to wander the internet these days on the type of sites that we read without running into today's trend. It seems as if the interest in this trend has truly captured our interest without the trouble of capturing our imagination. One thing is for sure, people will be talking about this trend, so it is important for us to write about it because I am confident that my readership is the only one that can truly dissect the trend in an authentic way.

As a cultural commentator who sits around on the internet absorbing trends, then writing about them as if my opinion matters, I feel as though I have developed many thoughts on this trend, many of which I am certain are valid because of my upbringing and exposure and interest in pop culture. In a way, this trend reflects 'now' due to societal constructs that it conforms to, but also rebels against, perhaps mirroring an era where the grass may or may not have been greener.

The trend looks very now, and the things that it says and does are calculated. The way that it appeals to a generation is fascinating because of the way it exploits nostalgia and every one thinking that they are special. There is something inherently sharable about this trend that seems to appeal to real working people, lunch pail crews. At the same time, it appeals to the tweens who share things on social media.

Isn't it funny how social media changed us as people?

Generation Y and millenials home ownership rise mortgage lending finance home APR. In a way, maybe we all want the same things, which is why the trend perhaps makes us 'one.'

Many people who are young do not know why they appreciate this trend, and why it is important. As an older person, I say 'Let the kids have fun, enjoy their trends.' I have been young before, and I have enjoyed these trends. I am a product of the 1970s/1980s/1990s.

There are many places on the internet that voiced pieces on this trend, however, this post is the most 'real' and is in it for the right reasons--to connect to you. In a way, we all realize that trends come and go, and we are getting older, so maybe a trend is just a historical marker of the way that things used to be, but at the same time, things are always the same, but in a way, this trend is just different enough to be different enough to be different.

Trends come, trends go. But I have a feeling that this trend truly changed things, but will also be forgotten, but perhaps recycled in one or two decades because of its originality, but also in the way it pays homage to simpler times. Thankfully, it is the internet that connects us to trends, and these trends that make the internet rich with dynamic, everchanging content.

This trend is and was very 'now', meriting many discussion pieces about it, such as this one, but once again, this one was real and I feel as though it truly broke thru the noise of the internet.